Originally published March 11th, 2020. Reprinted with Permission.
The
following is an in-depth timeline of Salem’s utility billing debacle and the
deception of the public that has taken place. All of my
statements here are taken directly from Salem News articles from the past 2
years regarding this topic. This post took multiple hours of research and
almost 50 pages of notes. I wanted citizens of Salem who have been affected by
the utility crisis to be able to view all of the
city’s statements and claims within one post. Though it may be lengthy, I have
provided the most in-depth breakdown that I could. I ask that you review each
article included, as my commentary is only a fraction of what these articles
contain. From this post, you will only gather the highlights from each article.
August
13th, 2019
The
topic of upgrading electric and water meters in Salem city limits is first
mentioned. City Administrator Ray Walden prefaces the conversation by bragging
about lowering electric rates for citizens.
He
states that electric rates have fallen 8.7%, and tells
citizens to expect even more savings as new AMI electric meters begin being
installed in September of 2019.
After
this initial mention of the meters was made, there was practically radio
silence about the project as they were being installed.
See
article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_04cc5ed2…
December
14th, 2019
Walden
states that utility billing is running a couple weeks late. This delay was
caused by a one-time need to enter data manually. This statement claims that
data would only need to be entered once by hand, and that the system will take
over after the initial entry.
Bills
for this period were delayed until January 20th, 2020. Walden stated that once
installation was completed, billing would return to normal monthly cycles.
See
article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_c9d98808…
December
17th, 2019
This
article opens by reiterating the issues outlined in the last article. However,
the tone in this article shifts; Ray Walden makes a bold statement, saying that
once the new meters are in place, this will never happen again.
As
citizens of Salem well know at this point, this is simply not true. This is
also the first of many bold statements from Walden that should be held
accountable.
Installation
was announced to begin in Sept. 2019 (see Aug 13th article) and we are now
nearing the end of December. The article states that 1,053 had been installed,
and they projected to finish at the end of January or early February. A
statement from Public Works Director Mark Nash said everything was going to
plan.
The
article wraps up by explaining that the city paid $1,340,000 for the project,
including installation. This confuses me, because if they paid the company for
installation, why are city employees installing the meters?
See
article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_5c42ffda…
February
25th, 2020
February
25th was an eventful day in the unfolding of this story. I have multiple pages
of notes spanning 2 articles from this day.
The
article begins with the announcement that no utility bills at all were issued
in the entire month of January. Meanwhile, bills issued in February stated that
they were for October/November 2019. City Clerk Mary Happel brushes this off as
a software issue, and states that there is no way to alter the dates. Walden
makes the claim that as soon as the meters are installed, this issue will be
resolved.
Walden
follows with the statement that March will return to a regular monthly billing
cycle. AS time progresses, this clearly is false and
problems only worsen.
Alderman
Kenneth Nash cites rising tensions from citizens in his district, and states
that they are more hostile over this than anything in the last 10 years.
Alderwoman Kim Steelman also voices concerns of hostility. This is the first
negative reaction from the public that is documented, and
foreshadows the tensions in the coming months.
Ray
Walden states that at this point, billing is 2 ½ months behind, which would
mean that billing for a November period would in fact be accurate, despite Ray
and Mary’s claims of that being incorrect earlier in the article. Ray follows
this statement by promising that the city will work to spread out the billing
backlog over upcoming bills so no one gets trampled
with payments. Ray states that upcoming weather will decide how that billing
will play out.
Alderwoman
Hinderlighter requests that late fees be temporarily
terminated, and Ray Walden denies this request. It is worth noting that later
in 2020 those fees were terminated, but due to COVID-19. The city would not
relax these fees for struggling citizens until COVID forced them to do so.
Kenneth
Nash brings up communication issues that the city was facing. Ray Walden claims
the city has done their part in portraying information, but states that they
are open to suggestions to better the communication lapse.
Alderman
Kevin James also expresses concern regarding reiteration of utility information
from the city to its citizens, and requests that printed notices be distributed
to explain the issues and address concerns. Walden dismisses the
misinformation, blaming citizens for spreading false information.
Ray
finishes by making the statement that billing for the month of March would be
‘timely.’
See
article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_e541dcc0…
Alderman
Kenneth Nash asks if the utility department will be in a spot to eradicate
positions after the new meters are installed. Mark Nash denies, saying that
workers will be able to do their actual jobs instead of spending time reading
meters manually.
See
article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_66da03b0…
March
10th, 2020
The late
fee for billing was extended to March 25th. The city was in violation of their
own ordinance, stating that citizens will have 20 days to pay their bill after
receiving it. The rule was altered to allow more time for citizens to pay their
utility bill.
Alderwomen
Steelman and Hinderlighter expressed concerns
regarding the verbiage of the ordinance, states that it could be up to
interpretation, and in the future could provide the city the avenue to shorten
the payment window, at the disadvantage of citizens.
Ray
provides a list of average utility costs; however instead of publishing it, he
says it’s available at the city office, therefore expecting citizens to get out
and get it themselves. I find this very inappropriate, considering the plethora
of media resources available in this day and age.
See
article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_b5b1f1dc…
April
6th, 2020
Aldermen
were told that utility bills would be sent at the conclusion of the week (see
next article). They were also told that this bill would return to a 30 day billing cycle.
There
were no bills issued at all in January 2020 and March 2020. Ray stated that the
May 2020 bill would catch up these missing billing cycles.
Late
fee penalties were finally suspended due to the onset of COVID-19. Before this
point, the city had made no effort to burden the load that this billing fiasco
had placed on citizens, despite requests from aldermen.
It
was stated that shipping was late on about 250 water meters, although past
statements gave the notion that all meters were already installed. This becomes
a trend over this story, that the story flips between whether
or not they’re all installed.
It
was stated that the April bill would be for December 15th-January 15th.
See
article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_9a51c9e4…
April
7th, 2020
This
section should be viewed alongside the last section, as they were published on
consecutive days and include contradicting information.
This
article states that bills would be PROCESSED April 10th, which is quite
different from the statement that they would be sent out by then in the last
section. From what I’ve gathered, there is usually 1-2 weeks between processing
and actually sending the bills. It was also noted that
this bill would include 2 months of trash service instead of one.
A major
issue for me is the billing period. The last article stated:
April
2020= Dec 15th- Jan 15th
This
article claims:
February
2020= Nov 21st- Dec 21st
Regardless
of these two statements being completely different, although published a day
apart, my concern is the 6 days of overlap in December. If both of these
articles are correct, citizens in Salem were charged twice for 6 cold winter days; which can make a large difference in utility costs.
It
was also noted in this article that the utility lobby closed for COVID-19
precautions March 17th.
Customers
voiced concerns that they may be billed for several months at a time; to which
the city has the AUDACITY to publish a guide on how to conserve power. Instead
of addressing citizens needs, they published a guide
telling them to not use as much power if they’re worried.
See
article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_a4fa005a…
April
24th, 2020
I have
decided to not break down this article; instead, you should read it. It is a
Q&A released by the city. Please remember to acknowledge the things we have
addressed already in this post, and you will notice changing stories and tones.
Please, read this article!
See
article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_e43dfc9a…
April
24th, 2020
As a
follow up in the same day as the last section, the city released their FIRST
in-depth explanation to citizens. At this point, this debacle has been taking
place for several months, and this is the first time we are seeing an overall
statement. I won’t break down this article, again you should read for
yourselves, however you will notice lots of placing the blame and backtracking
past statements. This becomes a very common trend for the city.
See
article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/article_27a85f10-8644…
May
12th, 2020
We begin
seeing the city offer options on paying the outstanding balances caused by the
meter delays. This article includes a breakdown of those options. This article
also reiterates that these issues began in November of 2019. At this point in
time, the city is behind 3 months in payments, at an average of around $700k
per month.
Ray
Walden again makes a bold statement that within a year, everything will be
caught up.
See
article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_e64f3e82…
May
26th, 2020
Alderwoman
Kim Steelman confronts the city for a previous statement that utility bills
would be sent in April, as they were not. Steelman expresses that she is upset
because she is constantly lying to her constituents, due to
the fact that the city keeps changing information after it’s already
provided to the aldermen.
At
this point, we see Walden essentially state that while he might be at fault, so
is everyone else. Ray makes generalizations about
communication at all levels, seemingly without the realization that it is quite
literally his job to communicate correct and accurate information at all times.
Ray does acknowledge his shortfalls in communication, yet
seems to make no effort to change that moving forward. After a short speech
blaming all levels of communication, Ray makes a promise that updates will
become more regular. Moving on, that is certainly not the case.
Ray
follows this with what he calls a “public commitment” to have May bills out by
the end of last week. I have not found adequate documentation as to whether
this promise was delivered on.
Ray continues on to blame the software for the current issues,
again placing the blame on anyone except the city.
A
situation is presented of a citizen who was away on vacation,
and returned to a water bill stating over 27,000 gallons of water were
used. Upon inspection, it was discovered that there was no leak, and this was
in fact an error by one of the new meters. What appalls me is that there seemed
to be almost a debate as to whether the city should still charge her for the
27k gallons, and an alderman argued that she should be given a break. Why is
this a debate? Why should citizens have to pay to make up for software
malfunctions?
See
article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_597edbbc…
June
12th, 2020
The
city had previously stated that bills would be sent on May 18th. At this point,
halfway through June, 1,000 had, and 1,570 had not. The city cited Memorial day as the major contributing factor. I have 2
major issues with this.
1,
Memorial Day wasn’t until a week after they stated the bills would be sent.
2, at
this point, we are halfway through June and over half of the bills STILL have
not been sent.
To
further frustrate me, the city pledges to provide a 5% rebate to anyone who
could pay their entire outstanding balance at once to help catch up.
Essentially, the city gave a discount to those who are wealthy in Salem and
would not be harmed by several thousands of dollars of utility bills at once,
whilst leaving those who are not so fortunate (the majority of Salem) still clamouring to try and pay back outstanding bills caused by
this major debacle that was out of their control.
The
city states that they are currently facing a $2.1 million shortfall caused by
the delay of payments after this billing fiasco.
See
article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_ecf11372…
July
14th, 2020
The
article blows my mind instantly. It states that MOST of the May bills had been
sent at this point, halfway through July. These bills were promised on May
18th, and still had not been completely mailed out by July 14th. That is
appalling.
Ray
Walden states that the June bills would officially begin the electric reading
process, and that those bills could be expected in late July or early August.
Walden
goes on to apologize for long lines at the utility office, and major phone
backup. He makes a promise that he will review issues personally if emailed to
him. Alderwoman Steelman cites unreturned phone calls, and Walden states that
they are working through a large backlog.
Walden
states that 121 meters had to be replaced, and that this was the reason they
were still behind. Things would return to normal once they were installed.
Ray
Walden goes on to place blame on InCode (the meter
software company) and says “the ball is in their
court.”
Alderwoman
Steelman says that some citizens are concerned about how low their utility
bills are, and that these people are concerned that they are going to be
slammed later on.
Walden
makes the claim that he is personally reviewing utility bills for errors, and acknowledges that errors are present. He states
that revised bills will be sent once these errors are realized. He then goes on
to state that there will be no more catch up bills, and that all bills will
stay on a monthly cycle here on out.
Alderwoman
Steelman gets very real with the board, and cites the
movie ‘Groundhog Day’. She says she feels like everytime
they are there, they are made the same promises and told the same excuses, and
then by the next meeting nothing is better and they
are told all the same things again.
At
this point, Walden seems to evade all blame and again places the blame on InCode.
Aldermen
Steelman and James request that better customer service practices be put in
place.
See
article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_f065a8c6…
August
4th, 2020
This
is an opinion piece by Donald Dodd. This article raises important questions and
concerns about Salem’s utility system. Please read for yourself, as I believe
this is better in its entirety than condensed and paraphrased.
See
article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_fc6f4a56…
August
4th, 2020
The
city begins this article by doing what I call “damage control.”
The
city drops the electric rate another 3%, despite the over $2 million shortfall
the city is facing at this point. It is also worth noting that this 3% drop in rate does nothing to help those who are far behind
and are still paying the old rate. Essentially, the new rate only benefits
those who were fortunate enough to afford to play the city’s catch up game for
them.
A
workshop was planned to address the billing issues. At this point, it is
unclear whether this workshop was open to the public or just city officials.
See
article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_65883648…
August
18th, 2020
This
article includes my favorite piece of writing thus far about the city’s billing
debacle. The IDA writes a letter to the city administrators and board of
aldermen, expressing major concerns about city leadership. I truly recommend
that you read this letter in its entirety, because the IDA spared no words in
expressing their feelings about the city’s execution of this project, and they
truly speak for all in Salem when calling out those in charge.
Instead
of acknowledging their shortcomings, the city just reiterates excuses and
places the blame on everyone except themselves again. I’m not going to break
down this part, because it is truly just spewing the same information again
that they use every time they are questioned.
It is
brought up at this meeting that the utility office closed because the staff
felt threatened by the public due to outrage over the billing debacle. It is
stated that people can still call ahead and make arrangements.
It is worth noting that this is a public government office, and there are major
issues with closing it to the public. If your employees are concerned that they
are in danger, you should be stepping double time to calm outrage and make sure
your employees are safe. Instead of closing the office, why not address the
problem at hand?
This
article also discusses the loss of Salem R-80’s resource officer. It cites the
city not providing documentation in time for the grant which provides the
district with an on-campus police officer. The city’s irresponsibility cost
Salem R-80 this safety, and if something were to happen and the officer not be available, I believe the city should be held
responsible.
See
article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_6d5351a4…
August
21st, 2020
We
begin with being told that bills had gone out that Monday. Walden states that
monthly billing will be the norm from now on. We have certainly heard that one before.
Tyler
Tech, the parent company of InCode, says that they
have repaired the issues, and that the program should be operating smoothly now.
Ray Walden supports this claim, saying the system is reading accurately.
Catherine
Dent poses the issue that some citizens have received no bills at all, and
Walden places the blame on them. He says it is their responsibility to contact
the city and let them know. This is interesting, as it is the city’s job to
keep track of billing.
Former
mayor Gary Brown, in a strange turn of events, places blame on the post office
for late and missing bills. This is a very bold statement, considering the last
year of irresponsibility from the city. I personally believe that this is just
more pointing fingers.
See
article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_f78db242…
August
25th, 2020
This
article poses some concerning numbers. As for customers with utility account:
375
are 120 days past due
506
are 90 days past due
745
are 60 days past due
These
numbers are appalling, and this is the first time we get an overall look at the
effects that this billing fiasco has had on citizens. These numbers mean over
half of Salem citizens have past due balances, some as far as 4 months.
Luckily, this is during COVID-19, so the city was not disconnecting past due
accounts. If that was the case, over half of Salem could potentially be without
power.
Online
billing was mentioned for the first time, which I think is more of a nightmare
to put on top of a system that isn’t necessarily operating properly. I think at
this point online billing should be the least of their worries.
$15k
was granted to study the implementation of the new meters. Again, a matter of
opinion, but I personally feel that that $15k would be better suited helping
your 1,600 past due accounts who are suffering from your repeated mistakes. On
top of this, it is mentioned that there are STILL meters that have yet to be
installed, despite this project starting a year ago, and many comments making
it seem like this had long been finished.
If
you weren’t frustrated enough, the city had to put the cherry on top.
They
CLOSED the utility office for renovation. In the middle of a pandemic, in the
middle of multiple millions of dollars of shortfall, they closed the office that
people are supposed to go to to address their utility
issues. During this crisis that has befallen our town and its people caused by
major lack of responsibility and communication skills, the city is HANDING OUT
CONTRACTS FOR NEW CARPET.
Folks,
you can’t make this shit up.
See
article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_3dd09340…
September
15th, 2020
Despite
the millions in shortfall over the electric billing issues, the city begins
converting all city properties to LED bulbs, except City Hall Auditorium.
Walden
announces that adjustments are being made to bills due to errors on a number of them.
See
article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_a690e770…
October
6th, 2020
July
2020 bills were sent in September, while August bills are still being
processed. Walden states that the October bill will be back to regular caught
up billing, however this has been stated several times about several different
bills.
The
administrative office was temporarily closed with zero notice to the public at
this time. When questioned why there was no notice, Walden is not documented
with an answer. All employees were sent to either work from home, or a remote
location. Meanwhile, people are still not able to get phone calls back when
they have important questions. The third closure of this office in a year only
furthers communication issues.
It was
pointed out that citizens were having issues when paying with a check, and that
those checks were not being processed.
Alderman
James requested updated information on errors found in bills, and Ray Walden
could not provide this information. He said he would locate that information at a later date.
Walden
again reiterates that communication issues are on all levels, when I think at
this point it is clear that the city is the root of
the communication problems.
See
article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_7e3b165a…
December
22nd, 2020
After
relative silence about the utility issue from the city, despite major issues
being voiced from citizens, the topic again came up in this article.
Again,
Ray Walden claims that bills are almost caught up, despite saying it would be
caught up by October in the last section. He also provides information that
meters are still being installed, now over a year after the onset of this
project. This again disputes several past statements that gave the impression
that all meters had been installed for quite some time.
Ray
Walden boasts that the monthly cycle is almost on track, although he has made
this claim many times over the past year. In a strange turn, he then states that
they may have to double up some bills to catch up. So
which is it, are you almost caught up or not?
It
becomes clear that over 200 meters are still not installed, despite being over
a year into this project. No projection for the completion was provided.
See
article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_24ea882c…
January
5th, 2021
It
becomes apparent that the City of Salem has not provided financial records to
The Salem News for 2 years, in violation of the Sunshine Law. 69 days after The
Salem News requested these records, none had been provided, only excuses and
ignored phone calls and emails.
It
also is pointed out that employees are still working remotely, and this is used
as an excuse for the records not being supplied.
The
Salem News requested lots of city records, including TONS of Ray Walden’s
records. It becomes apparent that Walden has been getting steady raises, and has not had an evaluation of his position in
almost 6 years. They go on to specifically request a large collection of
Walden’s records.
When
they received a portion of these records, lots of information was incorrect.
This gives me the impression that numbers had been fudged to cover missing
money. That, however, is a matter of my opinion.
See article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_03a70f28…
February
16th, 2021
After
multiple attempts, The Salem News has not received all of
the city’s financial records. They file a Sunshine Law Complaint with the State
of Missouri.
See
article:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_81812ab8…
February
2021 until now
It is
announced that the City of Salem is under investigation; however, they were allowed to hire their own investigator to do so. How is
this allowed? They can just hire their own investigator?
Mayor
Brad Nash calls a series of closed meetings to discuss the Sunshine Law report,
and after some time over 800+ documents are provided to the Salem News.
As a
result of these closed meetings, longtime city clerk Mary Happel is suddenly
terminated. Mary had worked for Salem since 1978. Happel is replaced with
temporary clerk Tammy Koller. The city makes no statement as to why Mary was
fired from her position. Citizens of Salem, myself included, see Mary as the
scapegoat. I believe that the blame was placed on Mary so no one else had to
take the falls for millions in missing money.
That being said, I believe there are many
hands in that pot.
See
articles:
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_6efa894e…
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_6efa894e…
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_d83c8526…
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/article_f6489a00-7b6d…
https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/…/article_e6393080…
Mary’s
termination is not the end. The lies and deceit from city officials has gone on long enough, and it is time to hold them
accountable. The citizens of Salem should not have to suffer at the hands of
the city’s mistakes. I fought long and hard for my community, and to see them
treated like this is gut wrenching. It is time to stand up and tell the city
that you have had enough.
If
they have no issue terminating Mary Happel, then Ray Walden should take
responsibility for the last year and a half of his contradicting statements,
lies, and deception.
I am
calling for the immediate resignation or removal of Ray Walden from his
position as City Administrator. Enough is enough. It is time to step up and
take responsibility for what you have done.
Please,
call upon your Alderman to hold our city officials accountable. Share this post
to ensure that your friends, family, and neighbors can read the lies and
excuses in black and white.
Thank
you to The Salem News for your dedication to keeping the public informed about
the city’s corruption. These articles that I have laid out provide black and
white proof of the corruption taking place in our city government.
Enough
is enough. It’s been a year and a half, it’s time to do something about it.
Please
share.
